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Northfields Protected Hedgerow

I had heard from some plot holders that the Hawthorn bushes that surround the Northfield allotments were protected. Vic the former maintenance guy told me recently that when he was cutting the hedge years ago a man from the council stopped him and told him it was protected.

I looked on Ealing council's website and found it quite easy to find information about Northfield Avenue's "Site of local importance"

Yep that's right, the bit of hedgerow that you may have taken little interest in is listed by Ealing Council as a "Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation in Ealing" the review of SINC in Ealing in 2008 has details of the hedgerow, location etc.

Site Description: The site consists of native hedges on either side of an allotment, a quiet lane to the east and another hedge across the busy road along the west side. The hedges are the main feature of wildlife interest. The main woody species are hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), elder (Sambucus nigra), English elm (Ulmus procera), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and garden privet (Lonicera ovalifolium). They are well managed and remain dense and tall for most of their length providing valuable nesting habitat for birds.

You can download a Word doc. of an abbreviated version of the Review of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation in Ealing or a Zip file of all the artticles i found relating to the hedge from Ealing Council below: